Ten basic science questions that make children and adults do not know how to respond

There is a basic question that most parents fear: how babies are made?

Maybe that’s why many are prepared to answer even years before children are ready to do it.

But this is obviously just one of the million questions that intrigue children.

And, according to a survey done recently in the UK, where the questions relate to matters of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, 83% of parents do not have the foggiest idea what to tell their children.

These are not necessarily drawn or deep according to the survey which parents could not answer questions.

These are basic things like why the sky is blue or why cats have tails and fish do not have tabs.

Not knowing the answer is only part of the problem: two-thirds of respondents acknowledged having responded wrongly so as not to admit ignorance.

61% of parents said their children feel fear when they take them by surprise with hard questions and admitted, too, have dodged with these little tricks to inquiring minds.

The survey, commissioned by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET, for its acronym in English), more than 1,000 parents involved with children between 4 and 12 years in the UK.

But, geographical restrictions aside, who has not been completely uncomfortable, if not terrified, to the questions of a child?

Can you say with hand on heart that never did fool you saying that you could not answer because you were busy, when in fact you did not have the faintest idea how to answer what you were asking?

Is a disease that touches us all at some point parents, uncles, brothers …

Here we tell you what are the 10 most common questions that British parents do not know how to answer (and responses, so if you make them you’re ready). And I also invite you to tell us what have they done to you and how you reacted.

Have you made a fool and do looked the other way? Have you answered some nonsense? Share your stories on our Facebook page

1. What is photosynthesis?

It is the process by which green plants and some organisms use sunlight to convert CO2 and water into sugars and oxygen.

2. How can it be that the universe is infinite?

The universe may be infinite, but we can only see a finite part of it because of the speed of light, also finita-.

In other words, we can only see those parts whose light has had time to reach us from the early universe. That is, in theory we can see nothing but a spherical universe with a radius of about 15,000 million light years.

What is farther has not yet reached us.

3. Why the sun is so big and there are no humans living there?

Not so great: it is much smaller than most stars you can see in the sky. Live there? Impossible: we die of heat!

4. Why does the sun shine?

The Sun shines because the enormous pressure at its center causes the hydrogen atoms are transformed into helium. This process is called nuclear fusion. Fusion occurs when the lighter elements are forced to stay together to transform into heavier elements.

When this happens, a huge amount of energy is created.

5. How did the stars to heaven?

They collapsed under its own gravity from large clouds of gas left by the Big Bang.

6. Why the moon does not fall?

The truth is that it falls to Earth by gravity. But it does continuously, and its speed is so great that achieves follow the curvature of the earth and therefore never strikes us.

7. Why is the sky blue?

The light coming from the sun enters the atmosphere and dispersed in all directions. Blue light has a shorter wave length, so it disperses more than red and yellow lights, giving the impression that fills the sky.

8. Who invented the computer?

It’s hard to say exactly. Could say were Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace in the nineteenth century, whose machine made of brass was like a calculator. Or we could say it was Alan Turing and John von Neumann who devised the first electronic machines. It was a work of many people!

9. The bricks are of a material made by man?

The ingredient, clay, naturally, but the brick is manufactured by man.

10. How many types of dinosaurs are there?

It is estimated that there are approximately 700 to 900 species of dinosaurs. But all the time archaeologists find new fossils, so who knows? Perhaps many still remain to be discovered.

If any of these questions blank has left you, do not worry, the board of Naomi Climer, president of IET is to admit you do not know and look for the answer to the child.

“Parents should know that it is perfectly legitimate to say: do not know, good question, see if we can find the answer,” he advises.

“The world is amazing … but if you crush small and with unsatisfactory answers from someone who seems to think that is not important or interesting, it can be discouraging,” he warns.